Across its six-game losing streak, Illinois (13-12, 8-8) had moments of hard luck, errors and inconsistency. But the one thing it showed was effort. The Illini have looked hungry to win despite results not falling their way. This fight paid off Friday night as they earned their first win since Oct. 19.
With that much-needed win came a quick turnaround Saturday evening. Illinois headed to another ranked matchup in a rematch against No. 11 Wisconsin (20-4, 13-3). Despite its longest set since Sept. 28, 2024, Illinois suffered another sweep loss.
Illinois breaks free
Washington’s (11-15, 6-10) defense made Illinois work hard and dive around every inch of the court. Freshman libero Taryn Kirsch put in the yards, amassing 13 digs, with some saving the game. But a lot of that Illini fight came after the first set.
After a late-first-set surge and surviving two set points, Illinois fell 25-22. But the Illini soon showed signs of life that had been missing over this losing streak. The first such moment arrived when Illinois jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set two. Five of these points were from kills and an ace.
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Another game-clinching moment arrived late in the set when Kirsch nearly ran into the Illini bench while successfully digging a long rally. That statement dig echoed what head coach Chris Tamas described as the right headspace to win.
“I felt that the previous three weeks before that, we were just playing a little bit too tight,” Tamas said Saturday. “They wanted to win badly. It’s never lack of (effort). You got to clear the head and make sure that you play free enough that you are able to play as well as you can.”
Junior setter Kenna Phelan and freshman outside hitter Alyssa Aguayo’s double-doubles all but sealed a bounce-back victory for the Illini. They found their groove again as they breezed past the Huskies in the third and fourth sets.
Longest set of season
Illinois ran into a hot Wisconsin team for the “Stuff Huff” game. As if a back-to-back was not exhausting enough, the first set ran for more than 50 minutes and saw nearly 20 ties and eight lead changes.
Wisconsin struggled to settle in for the majority of the first set, and Illinois capitalized on it. It won the race to 20, but that’s when Wisconsin started clicking — both offensively and defensively. The Illini were running away with the set until a service error and two Badger service aces meant they were only a point ahead.
“It didn’t go our way, but I’m really proud of how we fought,” Phelan said Saturday. “We had a (defensive specialist) in the front row, crazy plays, but we stuck to our guns … I am proud of how we fought.”
Even though the rest of the set was close, Wisconsin looked like a better team after the set went to extra points. The elongated set meant Illinois ran out of substitutions and eventually dropped a heartbreaker of a set 35-33.
Colyer rampage
The second set was all Wisconsin. Despite Illinois fighting back in the third set, Wisconsin’s star offensive weapon made sure the game was all but sealed. Senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer opened the floodgates to smash a game-leading 24 kills Saturday. The next best anyone could manage was 10.
“They came out pretty hot,” Phelan said. “A lot of stuff serves, hard to pass. They kind of put us on our heels.”
Colyer was the star of the evening, flying and sliding around the court to earn various types of kills. Every time the Illini mounted a challenge, it seemed Colyer was always there to shut it off.
“They are tough to stop,” Tamas said. “But you got to do everything you can to hopefully slow them down a little bit and control what you can control.”
Lot of errors
Wisconsin had one more error than Illinois, but its fiery offense made amends for it. Illinois, on the other hand, stifled seemingly every run with errors. In the second and third sets, an Illinois error followed a point on 10 occasions.
“You got to earn everything,” Tamas said. “It’s been a long season, but it can’t be something that wears us out. We got to just keep pushing through it.”
Sophomore middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot had another good game, following her 12-kill performance Friday with a team-leading 10 kills. She hit at a very efficient 0.582 percent over the two games.
Wisconsin kept redshirt sophomore outside hitter Taylor de Boer quieter Saturday. She only managed seven kills, while she led the team with 14 on Friday.
Illinois comes out of this weekend breaking its six-game losing streak, but also dropping another ranked matchup. Now 8-8 in conference play, it heads to California this week.
“In this conference, to compete is to compete,” Phelan said. “You can’t really look at the wins and losses, because that’s what you signed up for — a challenge every single day. You gotta be committed to the process. If you can’t, then you are in the wrong conference.”
